EPC ratings run A to G, and every band is a range of scores: A 92–100, B 81–91, C 69–80, D 55–68, E 39–54, F 21–38, G 1–20. The letter is the headline. The score underneath tells you how far the home really sits from the band above — and what closing that gap is likely to cost.
An Energy Performance Certificate gives a home two things: a letter from A to G, and a score from 1 to 100 behind it. Almost everyone reads the letter and stops. The score is the more useful number, because it tells you how far the property sits from the band above — the difference between draught-proofing and a job worth raising before you offer.
This guide covers domestic certificates in England and Wales only. Different rules apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The bands, and the scores behind them
| Band | SAP score | What it usually signals |
|---|---|---|
| A | 92–100 | Rare: very high standard, often self-generating |
| B | 81–91 | New build, or an older home heavily upgraded |
| C | 69–80 | Efficient: decent insulation, reasonably modern heating |
| D | 55–68 | The most common band, and the value-comparison baseline |
| E | 39–54 | Meets the current private rental minimum, little more |
| F | 21–38 | Below the private rental minimum. Real work, not tidying |
| G | 1–20 | Bottom of the register: solid-walled or poorly heated |
A certificate is valid for ten years from lodgement, so the one on a listing may describe a house that has since had a new boiler — or ten more years of neglect. Check the date before you lean on the letter. For what else the document contains, see what an EPC is and what it covers.
Been to a viewing?
Put in the address and see what the data says you should offer — sold prices, time on market, seller signals.
The letter hides the score
The bands are wide. Band D runs from 55 to 68 — a thirteen-point spread. A D scoring 68 is one point below a C. A D scoring 55 is one point above an E. Both are advertised with the same letter, and they are not the same purchase.
The high D is usually a sound home with something modest holding it back: an ageing boiler, an uninsulated loft, old glazing. The low D is usually a fabric problem — walls that cannot easily be insulated, heating wrong for the building — and fabric is the expensive kind.
So the letter is a filter and the score is the answer. When you look up the certificate for an address, read the score, then the potential score the assessor recorded with their recommended measures done. That gap is the scale of the work the assessor thinks the property needs — costed, on the seller's own document. Whether anyone does it, and who pays, is exactly what is open to argument.
What counts as a good EPC rating?
C is the benchmark modern policy points at. It is the band — or its equivalent under the new metrics — that privately rented homes in England and Wales must reach on 1 October 2030. The date is confirmed; the detail of what counts as that equivalent is still completing its Parliamentary passage. So a C or better is good in the plain sense that it already clears the band the rental minimum is heading for, subject to how the new metrics define the equivalent. For an owner-occupier, no band is asked anything at all: there is no minimum rating to buy or to sell.
D is average, and average is not bad. It is the most common band in England and Wales, which makes it the sensible baseline rather than a mark of failure. A well-kept Victorian terrace on a D is behaving as its construction predicts. Judge a rating against age, construction and local stock, not against A.
What each band means in practice
A and B — running costs are already low
Little to fix, and little to argue. The live risk is the opposite: paying a premium for efficiency priced in twice, by the developer and again by the agent. Check the comparables here, not the certificate.
C — where policy is pointing
Bills should be unremarkable for the size of home, and the property already sits at the band the 2030 rental minimum is heading for. For a landlord, that is the largest known future obligation substantially addressed — though the minimum is written as band C or its equivalent under the new metrics, and until that equivalence is settled a C today is a strong position rather than a guaranteed pass.
D — the default, and the band worth reading closely
Most homes you view will be here, which is why the score matters more than the letter. Expect recommended measures with indicative costs beside them: a weekend or a winter, depending on whether they concern insulation and controls or walls and heat sources. More in what an EPC rating of D really means.
E — meeting the minimum, with nothing spare
An E clears the band E minimum that has applied to privately rented homes in England and Wales since April 2020, and clears it narrowly. For an owner-occupier that is a running-cost question; for a landlord, a countdown.
F and G — below the rental standard, usually a fabric job
A home rated F or G does not meet the private rental minimum in force since April 2020. That minimum applies to homes that are let, not to owner-occupiers, so an F or G is not a barrier to buying one to live in. It does signal structural rather than cosmetic work, as the certificate's own recommendations normally show.
Still working out your number?
One practical guide a week — starting with how far below asking you can actually go.
By signing up you agree to our privacy policy. We capture which guide referred you and note when our emails are opened, so we know what's worth writing. Unsubscribe any time.
Turning a certificate into a negotiating position
An EPC is one of the few documents in a purchase that quantifies its own bad news: estimated running costs, plus recommended measures with indicative costs attached. An agent cannot wave those off as your opinion: they come from the certificate the seller published to market the property.
That gives you a case worth arguing. It does not give you a discount. No certificate moves a price on its own, and no honest tool will tell you a band is worth a fixed sum off. What it can show is which quoted measures are real money, so you arrive with evidence rather than a complaint. The certificate's own £ figures are modelled at the energy prices of the year it was lodged; the figures Broc shows are re-priced at rates stated as of early 2026. Both describe a standardised household, not your bills.
What is changing, and what is not
As of August 2026, the position in England and Wales is this.
- The band E minimum for privately rented homes has been in force since April 2020.
- That minimum rises to band C — or its equivalent under the new metrics — on 1 October 2030. This is confirmed; the equivalence detail is still completing its Parliamentary passage.
- New-style certificates are announced for the second half of 2027, replacing the single score with four Home Energy Model metrics. An announcement, not a settled scheme — but it means the bands above describe today's certificate, not a permanent scale.
- There is no confirmed minimum rating for selling a home. If you have read that sellers will need a C by 2035, that came from a 2021 consultation ambition that never became policy. Do not budget for it, and do not let it be priced into a negotiation either way.
For how the 2030 date bears on a specific purchase, see what the 2030 EPC C rule means for buyers and landlords.
Before you offer
Read the lodgement date, the score rather than the letter, the potential score, and the cost column beside the recommendations. Then work out whether the problem is the heating or the fabric, because only one is cheap. Or check a property's EPC — free, takes an address, no account needed.
General information, not financial or legal advice. Broc's scores and recommended ranges are informational guidance generated from data; outcomes vary and no result is guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good EPC rating?
C or better is the practical benchmark, because the private rental minimum in England and Wales rises to band C — or its equivalent under the new certificate metrics — on 1 October 2030. That date is confirmed; the detail of what counts as the equivalent is still completing its Parliamentary passage (position as of August 2026). D is the most common band in England and Wales and reads as average rather than poor.
What are the EPC score ranges for each band?
A is 92–100, B is 81–91, C is 69–80, D is 55–68, E is 39–54, F is 21–38 and G is 1–20. Those describe the current certificate; new-style certificates using four Home Energy Model metrics are announced for the second half of 2027.
How long is an EPC valid for?
Ten years from the date it was lodged on the register. A certificate can be valid and badly out of date at once, so check it against any work done since.
Can a poor EPC rating get money off the asking price?
It can support a case, and a stronger one than most, because the certificate prices its own recommendations. It does not entitle you to anything. Whether it moves the number depends on the seller's position, the market and how the evidence is put.
Broc
Broc is the badger behind trybroc.io — "broc" is Old English for badger. Where the estate agent speaks in superlatives, Broc speaks in evidence — sold comparables, days on the market, seller-pressure signals — and turns them into a number you can defend.
